Alexander

The home of Arnold and Norma Kirch, at 10551 Brookville Road in Alexander, was destroyed by fire this morning.

Smoke detectors woke the couple up at about 4:15 a.m. and they got out of the house safely and quickly.

However, fuel oil stored in the basement in a 150-gallon container spilled into a swamp area and into a tributary. The state's Department of Environmental Conservation has been called to the scene. Tim Yaeger, emergency management coordinator for Genesee County, said booms have been put in place to block the fuel oil from traveling downstream.

A 1,000-gallon fuel oil tank in the backyard also ruptured, but that spill has been contained.

Yaeger said Mr. Kirch said he thought the fire started in the garage and an assistant fire chief who lives nearby confirmed that observation.

The fire spread quickly, Yaeger said, because of the peaked-roof construction of the log cabin home.

Putting the fire out was hampered, Yaeger said, because of power lines in the area coming down and arcing.

The Alexander Fire Department worked the fire with mutual aid from Darien, Stafford, Town of Batavia, Bethany, East Pembroke and Attica. Inmates from the Wyoming Correctional Facility are on scene helping with clean up. No injuries to firefighters were reported.

Photo above sent from the cellphone camera of an unidentified reader.

UPDATE: WBTA spoke with Tim Yaeger at the scene. Listen.

UPDATE: Another reader submitted the photos below:

An ambulance has been dispatched to a two-car accident at Walker and Gillett roads in Alexander.

A victim is reportedly complaining of chest and shoulder pain.

One vehicle is described as having heavy front-end damage.

Karl Matthew Churchill, 29, of 6018 Main Road, Stafford, is charged with harrassment. Churchhill allegedly made a threatening phone call to the Village of Corfu Court after receiving a traffic ticket for allegedly tinted windows.

Robert E. Magoffin Jr., 37, 3717 Broadway Road, Alexander, is charged with DWI with a BAC of .08 or greater. Magoffin was allegedly doing 84 m.p.h. in a 40 m.p.h. zone on Route 20 in Darien when he was stopped.  He was ordered to appear in Darien Town Court on Aug. 18.

A two-vehicle accident with minor injuries is reportedly blocking Route 20 at 1888 Broadway, half way between Alexander and Darien.

The accident involves a car and tractor trailer. There is reportedly severe damage on the car and it's leaking gasoline.

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Mercy Flight received a donation of $7,115 today from the Don Cummings Memorial Antique & Vintage Snowmobile Show, which was held May 9 in Alexander.

The donation will help defray the $300,000 cost of outfitting Mercy Flight with night goggles. The safety measure is expensive, explain Karen Bridge, community event coordinator in Batavia for Mercy Flight, because the goggles require training and modification to the helicopters' cockpits, as well as the goggles themselves.

The goggles will improve vision at night for pilots, so they can better see power lines, telephone polls and even small hills, Bridge said.

"Last year there were a lot of well publicized crashes all over the U.S., so it's a good thing to have," Bridge said.

This is the third year for the snowmobile show, which was originally known as the Alexander Antique and Vintage Snowmobile Show. The show was founded by Don Cummings, but he died shortly after last year's show. This year the show was renamed in his honor.

Pictured are, starting with the front row, left, Howard Mehne, Rita Mehne, Gail Lindsley, Bruce Lindsley, Doug Cummings, Jason Cummings and Karen Bridge; back row: Juliet Wnek, Jarred Czarnick, Dennis Czarniak, Pete Kemp and Joanne Kemp. Not pictured, John Goodridge, Ray Schumacher and Jay Cummings.

More than 220 National Grid customers along Route 98 south of the city are without power.

The National Grid web site says the power outage effects the town and village of Alexander as well as part of the Town of Batavia. 

National Grid estimates power will be restored about 5:30 p.m.

UPDATE 4:14 p.m.: Power has been restored. Steve Brady at National Grid said it was a short outage that was necessary to replace a failing lightning arrester.  It's safer to take power offline to make a quick, but much needed repair. "It was an unplanned, planned outage," Brady said. Normally, National Grid likes to notify customers of planned outages, but when this particular faulty arrester was found, engineers decided it should be replaced right away to avoid a bigger problem later. (Lightning arrester pictured)

Brian P. Griffin, 24, of Batavia, is charged with grand theft and endangering the welfare of a child after he allegedly forced his way into the car of an ex-girlfriend, climbed over her children and grabbed a cell phone from her hand. The alleged incident took place Saturday around 7:20 p.m.  Griffin is being held without bail.

John C. Townley, 33, of Alexander, is charged with criminal mischief. Townley allegedly got involved in a verbal argument with another patron at MY Saloon early Saturday morning. Because of the disturbance, an employee reportedly asked Townley to leave the bar. Once outside, Townley reportedly punched a window of the building and broke it.

Cory J. Rigdon, 22, of Holley, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .18 or higher and unlicensed operation of a vehicle. Rigdon was arrested after reportedly driving off the end of Hessenthaler Road in Byron on Sunday evening. Upon further investigation, deputies found he had a prior DWI conviction.

John Tullar, 30, of Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana following a traffic stop on Pratt Road.

Jeffery S. Leonard, 22, of Tonawanda, is charged with DWI, a BAC of .08 or greater and ticked for failure to stop at a stop sign. He was cited early Sunday morning on Pearl Street in Batavia.

Ten voters showed up to the Village of Alexander election meeting last night, five of them were candidates for village offices.

The voters also approved a $373,450 budget. The tax rate remains unchanged at $1.66 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Elected unanimously to one-year terms by the 10 voters:

• Mayor: Richard Scharlau
• Clerk/Treasurer: Vera Antonucci
• Tax Collector: Nancy Bartz
• Constable: Ralph Robbins

William Wagner was elected to a two-year term as village trustee.

Michael J. McCauley, 19, of North Chili, is charged with one count of unlawfully dealing with a child and one count of sexual misconduct. The investigation began in November 2008 when the mother of a Village youth came home to find McCauley allegedly in the house with her underage daughter. The daughter was allegedly served alcohol.  It was later alleged that McCauley and the daughter had been involved in a sexual relationship over the previous year. McCauley was arraigned and released on an order of protection.

Kyle W. Nash, 21, of LeRoy, was arrested early Monday morning for allegedly supplying a minor with alcohol. Nash was reportedly observed with an 18-year-old on Lincoln Avenue. Nash was found to be so intoxicated that police had him transported via ambulance to a hospital. Police believe Nash purchased and supplied his 18-year-old companion with alcohol. He is charged with unlawfully dealing with a child.

Sheldon Wetmore, 19, of Wyoming, was arrested in Alexander on Sunday afternoon for alleged unlawful possession of marijuana. The reported marijuana was found after Wetmore was stopped for an alleged unsafe lane change.

Jerrod J. Cramer, 31, of Alabama, was charged with a DWI Saturday afternoon after being stopped for an alleged traffic violation. Sheriff's Deputies report an open contain was found in Cramer's vehicle. He is charged with a DWI with a BAC of more than .08 percent. He was also cited for hauling an unlicensed, uninspected trailer.

Rodney McKenzie, 44, of Alden, was charged with criminal contempt for allegedly violating an order of protection out of the Town of Alabama court. McKenzie allegedly placed several harassing phone calls to an individual he was ordered not to contact.

Amanda L. King, 27, of LeRoy, was arrested Friday by LeRoy police officers on a charge of harassment in the second degree, and one count of endangering the welfare of a child. King allegedly bit a 12-year-old child during a domestic incident, leaving a bruise. King was arraigned and released on an order of protection.

Jeffery L. Bowker, 44, of Bergen, is charged with DWI out of the Village of LeRoy, after Det. John Condidorio reportedly observed Bowker make a wide right turn at routes 5 and 19, almost striking another vehicle. The subsequent investigation found that Bowker reportedly had a BAC of .18 or higher.

Dale R. Williams, 25, of LeRoy, was arrested in Bergen Saturday morning for an alleged DWI. Wiliams is reported to have had a BAC of .08 or greater. He is also charged with unlicensed operation of a vehicle.

Notre Dame guard Kevin Francis and Oakfield-Alabama forward/center Noah Seward were regarded as the top players in each division of the Genesee Region League this season.

And now the two will get a chance to play on the same squad in the Ronald McDonald Greater Rochester All-Star Game on March 28 at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Seward and Francis will be playing on the Gold team and are joined by one tremendous lineup, including Rush-Henrietta's Dane Miller.

That team will be coached by Prattsburgh legend Jim Burke, who announced his retirement after the Vikings lost in the sectional finals on Saturday.

The Genesee Region League representatives in the girls game are on opposite teams as Alexander's Anni Lehtola will be on the Red team and Notre Dame's Jill Marshall is on the Gold squad.

Notre Dame cheerleading coach Lindsay Warner will be coaching the cheerleaders. She will be joined by Holley cheerleader Nikkie Butler.

The complete rosters for the game can be found here.

Jacob J. Meinhold, 18, of Alexander, was arrested Tuesday for 2nd degree menacing after allegedly pointing a rifle at a female and threatening to kill her. The reported incident occurred at his residence at 5:30 p.m. Meinhold was arraigned in Alexander Town Court and released on his own recognizance.

Three teenagers were arrested Tuesday at 7:55 p.m. for alleged shoplifting at K-Mart. Taken into custody were Brandy A. Christopher, 18, Shyla J. Travis, 18, Cynthia A. Zayas, 19. All three are from Batavia.

The Alexander girls basketball team earned the top seed in Class C because the team has so many solid players. Rachel Pettys is without a doubt one of them.

The senior forward led a big second half rebounding effort to lead the Trojans to a 65-44 win over No. 9 Lyndonville Wednesday.

Pettys had 11 points, 14 rebounds and six assists in the contest.

"Rachel is everywhere," Alexander coach Marcia Hirsch said. "She had an amazing game tonight and really is the heartbeat of our team, along with Anna Dominick. They work and do what it takes. They are on the floor and fighting for every rebound."

Alexander was on the losing side of the rebounding numbers at the half by 10, but had an eight board advantage after the third quarter.

"They haven't been outrebounded yet this year," Hirsch said. "We have a sticker board in the locker room and they get a sticker every time they outrebound somebody. They take a lot of pride in their rebounding."

The Trojans had a very slim 12-11 lead after the first quarter and a 27-20 lead at halftime, but outscored the Tigers 20-9 in the third to pull away.

Dominick led all scorers with 15 points as all five Alexander starters finished in double figures.

Anni Lehtola had 13 points, nine rebounds and five assists with Katie Kochmanski and Chelsea Turcer getting 10 points apiece.

Samantha Skryp and Molly Burgess had 10 points each for Lyndonville, which ends up 10-12.

Alexander (16-4) will face No. 4 Lyons (11-9) in the semifinals at Pittsford Sutherland.

Hirsch hasn't seen the Lions play this season, but will be doing her homework over the next couple of days. But she also says that once you get to this level, it is all about how your team performs.

"Sometimes you just have to play and not worry about the other team," Hirsch said.

A few months ago, we introduced our readers to Emily Tworek Helenbrook, a 14-year-old vocalist from Alexander, who was then being featured as a soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Emily's mother, Marisa, has sent us some updates on Emily that we wanted to share.

Emily was invited to sing for three separate services at the Eastern Hills Wesleyan Church in honor of the victims of the crash of Flight 3407 in Clarence Center a couple weeks ago. She was then requested by Erie County officials to open the memorial service last Monday morning. "She sand the inspirational song called 'You'll Never Walk Alone,'" her mother wrote. "Over 2,000 people attended the service."

From Marisa Helenbrook:

"On February 8, Emily entered a competition called Search For a Star, sponsered by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Over 100 talented young musicians attended. Emily was chosen as one of the winners and she will be performing with the RPO on May 31, 2009 at the Eastman Theatre (at) 2:00PM.

"On March 27, Emily will be performing at the University of Rochester at 7:00 and March 29 at the Montante Center with the ARS Nova Musicians at 7:00. (This) week, Emily will travel to Oberlin University in Cleveland, Ohio for the first round in the national competition called The Classical Singers Vocal Contest."

For those who missed it, here is the video of Emily from our original post: